The subject matter of the present application relates to microelectronic packages and assemblies incorporating microelectronic packages.
Semiconductor chips are commonly provided as individual, prepackaged units. A standard chip has a flat, rectangular body with a large front face having contacts connected to the internal circuitry of the chip. Each individual chip typically is contained in a package having external terminals connected to the contacts of the chip. In turn, the terminals, i.e., the external connection points of the package, are configured to electrically connect to a circuit panel, such as a printed circuit board. In many conventional designs, the chip package occupies an area of the circuit panel considerably larger than the area of the chip itself. As used in this disclosure with reference to a flat chip having a front face, the “area of the chip” should be understood as referring to the area of the front face.
In “flip chip” designs, the front face of the chip confronts the face of a package dielectric element, i.e., substrate of the package, and the contacts on the chip are bonded directly to contacts on the face of the substrate by solder bumps or other connecting elements. In turn, the substrate can be bonded to a circuit panel through the external terminals that overlie the substrate. The “flip chip” design provides a relatively compact arrangement; each package occupies an area of the circuit panel equal to or slightly larger than the area of the chip's front face, such as disclosed, for example, in certain embodiments of commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,148,265; 5,148,266; and 5,679,977, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Certain innovative mounting techniques offer compactness approaching or equal to that of conventional flip-chip bonding. Packages that can accommodate a single chip in an area of the circuit panel equal to or slightly larger than the area of the chip itself are commonly referred to as “chip-scale packages.”
Size is a significant consideration in any physical arrangement of chips. The demand for more compact physical arrangements of chips has become even more intense with the rapid progress of portable electronic devices. Merely by way of example, devices commonly referred to as “smart phones” integrate the functions of a cellular telephone with powerful data processors, memory and ancillary devices such as global positioning system receivers, electronic cameras, and local area network connections along with high-resolution displays and associated image processing chips. Such devices can provide capabilities such as full internet connectivity, entertainment including full-resolution video, navigation, electronic banking and more, all in a pocket-size device. Complex portable devices require packing numerous chips into a small space. Moreover, some of the chips have many input and output connections, commonly referred to as “I/Os.” These I/Os must be interconnected with the I/Os of other chips. The components that form the interconnections should not greatly increase the size of the assembly. Similar needs arise in other applications as, for example, in data servers such as those used in internet search engines where increased performance and size reduction are needed.
Semiconductor chips containing memory storage arrays, particularly dynamic random access memory chips (DRAMs) and flash memory chips, are commonly packaged in single-chip or multiple-chip packages and assemblies. Each package has many electrical connections for carrying signals, power, and ground between terminals and the chips therein. The electrical connections can include different kinds of conductors such as horizontal conductors, e.g., traces, beam leads, etc., which extend in a horizontal direction relative to a contact-bearing surface of a chip, vertical conductors such as vias, which extend in a vertical direction relative to the surface of the chip, and wire bonds that extend in both horizontal and vertical directions relative to the surface of the chip.
The transmission of signals within packages to chips of multi-chip packages poses particular challenges, especially for signals common to two or more chips in the package such as clock signals, and address and strobe signals for memory chips. Within such multi-chip packages, the lengths of the connection paths between the terminals of the package and the chips can vary. The different path lengths can cause the signals to take longer or shorter times to travel between the terminals and each chip. Travel time of a signal from one point to another is called “propagation delay” and is a function of the conductor length, the conductor's structure, and other dielectric or conductive structure in close proximity therewith.
Differences in the times at which two different signals reach a particular location can also be called “skew”. The skew in the arrival times of a particular signal at two or more locations is a result of both propagation delay and the times at which the particular signal starts to travel towards the locations. Skew may or may not impact circuit performance. Skew often has little impact on performance when all signals in a synchronous group of signals are skewed together, in which case all signals needed for operation arrive together when needed. However, this is not the case when different signals of a group of synchronous signals needed for operation arrive at different times. In this case the skew impacts performance because the operation cannot be performed unless all needed signals have arrived. The embodiments described herein can include features that minimize skew that are disclosed in the copending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/506,889 (TESSERA 3.8-664), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Conventional microelectronic packages can incorporate a microelectronic element that is configured to predominantly provide memory storage array function, i.e., a microelectronic element that embodies a greater number of active devices to provide memory storage array function than any other function. The microelectronic element may be or include a DRAM chip, or a stacked electrically interconnected assembly of such semiconductor chips. Typically, all of the terminals of such package are placed in sets of columns adjacent to one or more peripheral edges of a package substrate to which the microelectronic element is mounted.
For example, in one conventional microelectronic package 112 seen in FIG. 1, three columns 114 of terminals can be disposed adjacent a first peripheral edge 116 of the package substrate 120 and three other columns 118 of terminals can be disposed adjacent a second peripheral edge 122 of the package substrate 120. A central region 124 of the package substrate 120 in the conventional package does not have any columns of terminals. FIG. 1 further shows a semiconductor chip 111 within the package having element contacts 126 on a face 128 thereof that are electrically interconnected with the columns 114, 118 of terminals of the package 112 with wire bonds 130 extending through an aperture, e.g., bond window, in the central region 124 of the package substrate 120. In some cases, an adhesive layer 132 may be disposed between the face 128 of the microelectronic element 111 and the substrate 120 to reinforce the mechanical connection between the microelectronic element and the substrate, with the wire bonds 130 extending through an opening in the adhesive layer.
In light of the foregoing, certain improvements in the positioning of terminals on microelectronic packages can be made in order to improve electrical performance, particularly in assemblies that include such packages and a circuit panel to which such packages can be mounted and electrically interconnected with one another.